Politicians who claim that Israel committed genocide in Gaza are lying to you. A review of genocide’s definition, plus hard evidence, disproves this Big Lie.
Adolf Hitler popularized the Big Lie to slander the Jewish people during the Nazi Third Reich. He said the Big Lie must be “colossal,” bypass logical reasoning, and be repeated despite all facts.
Of all the slanders leveled against Israel, “Gaza genocide” is the greatest Big Lie. It disregards the definition of genocide, defies the facts, and is repeated shamelessly by Israel’s enemies.
Politicians who make this unfounded accusation are guilty either of ignorance or hateful malice. They didn’t invent the genocide slander. They are echoing propaganda promoted by Soviet Communists, whose anti-Israel genocide campaign began in 1967 after Israel defeated three invading Arab armies.
The USSR continued the hoax—expanded to “Zionism is genocide”—until the Soviet state collapsed in 1991.
Big Lies, like Gaza genocide, taint all who embrace them. It behooves fair-minded politicians, especially those who value the votes of Jews, Israel supporters and all who stand for truth, to research the facts before defaming one of the world’s strongest democracies and America’s greatest allies.
Indeed, the factual evidence is overwhelming: Israel’s military conduct against Hamas was entirely legal and in no way violated the U.N. Genocide Convention.
Fact: Israel never purposely targeted civilians or used disproportionate force to achieve military objectives. Fact: Israel took unprecedented precautions to protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian aid. Fact: Israel had no plan or intention to eliminate the Palestinian people.
But the most important fact is this: The International Criminal Court in The Hague, which has reviewed volumes of evidence concerning this accusation and is no friend of Israel, hasn’t charged the Jewish state with genocide—let alone convicted it—because there is no evidence establishing genocidal intent.
Nonetheless, adherents of this hoax cite five justifications: 1) high Palestinian death tolls, especially children; 2) destruction of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure; 3) blockade of humanitarian aid, causing starvation; 4) mass displacement of Gazans; and 5) statements by Israeli political and military officials.
Before addressing such disturbing accusations, it’s necessary to establish what is and is not genocide.
What is genocide?
Per the Genocide Convention, genocide means violent or coercive acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. Above all, genocide depends not on the scope of violence, but on intention.
War is not genocide. Most genocide accusations against Israel apply a double standard. Death tolls, destruction of infrastructure, blocking humanitarian aid and mass displacement, whether true or not, are features of war that have characterized major conflicts throughout history. World War II, the Korean War, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Iraq War killed hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, displaced populations and destroyed infrastructure. Politicians who cite these consequences as evidence of Gaza genocide are inventing a new definition applied only to Israel.
Politicians who cite NGO and U.N. reports quoting Israeli officials to prove genocidal intent are likewise unconvincing. They almost exclusively cite harsh statements by Israeli officials about Hamas. For example, then-Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel was “fighting human animals, and we are acting accordingly.” Such comments reflect wartime rhetoric about destroying the enemy, which virtually every combatant nation uses. However, no statements have been presented expressing an Israeli plan to eliminate the Palestinian population. Nor have similar bellicose comments ever been used as evidence against other warring nations to prove genocidal intent.
Rather than causing a genocide, Israel prevented one. Even as Hamas hid behind civilian human shields—operating in and around schools, hospitals, mosques and playgrounds—Israel took extensive measures to minimize civilian casualties. Military experts such as urban warfare scholar John Spencer and British Col. (ret.) Richard Kemp have argued that Israel achieved one of the lowest civilian-to-combatant death ratios in modern warfare.
The Israel Defense Forces also facilitated more than 2 million tons of humanitarian aid into Gaza throughout the war—an extraordinary effort, considering that countries at war are generally not required to provide sustenance to their enemies. Israel’s behavior fully crushes the accusation that it intended to commit genocide.
Neither the International Criminal Court nor the International Court of Justice has charged Israel with genocide. After extensive investigations, the ICC has not charged Israel with genocide. Indeed, its head prosecutor publicly admitted it would be improper to pursue the charge without the required evidence of specific intent. Nor has the International Court of Justice ruled on the genocide accusation pending since 2023.
Genocide requires proof of intent. The Holocaust intended to annihilate the Jewish people. The Nazis left extensive evidence of that intent, including minutes of the 1942 Wannsee Conference, during which they spelled out the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question”: extermination.
Similarly, the 1994 Rwanda Genocide was proven through the public statements and propaganda of Rwanda’s Hutu rulers, including mass-media calls for extermination and the infamous U.N. “genocide fax” warning of plans for anti-Tutsi extermination.
No comparable evidence of intent exists for the Gaza War. Israel neither expressed nor demonstrated an intent to exterminate the Palestinian population. Instead, Israel repeatedly stated that it was targeting Hamas, not Gaza’s civilians. IDF conduct likewise demonstrates that its military objective was to defeat terrorists, not civilians. No genocide.
Why we can’t vote for genocide liars. We can’t trust politicians who lie or those who falsely and maliciously accuse the Jewish state of war crimes.
The Big Genocide Lie is part of the Big Antisemitism Lie—blaming Jews for things we dislike. To defame Israel, this includes accusations of apartheid, starvation, bombing hospitals and genocide. To libel American Jews, it includes claims of Jewish control of banks, entertainment and the media. Like Hitler’s Big Lies, these slanders are massive and widely repeated without even flimsy factual support.
In short, the malevolent Big Genocide Lie will poison politicians and others who employ it. Jewish voters and financial supporters are already beginning to pull away from politicians such as Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, running for a Senate seat in Michigan, who defame them and Israel. Christians who support Israel—and all who oppose lying—may do the same.
In America, the accused are innocent until proven guilty. As midterm elections approach, politicians who disregard fairness and truth don’t deserve our votes.
Originally published on Facts and Logic About the Middle East (FLAME).
